


the same three chords

by esmaewrites



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Break Up, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Marceline's POV, One Shot, Post-Break Up, Rated T for swearing, also like its canon compliant but they swear so idk, for like .1 second, it's all v ambiguous tho ngl, this takes place in the past and progresses up to the end of stakes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-20 03:52:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12424473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esmaewrites/pseuds/esmaewrites
Summary: "She didn't know why she sang that song, but she did anyways. Perhaps she sang it because it was honest. Marceline hadn't been honest with herself in a long time. It hurt, because it was true.The soft expression on Bonnibel's face almost made it worth it."orMarceline and Bonnibel try to break the cycle.





	the same three chords

**Author's Note:**

> HI idk what this is
> 
> the summary is SHIT so just ignore it but anYWAYS i love bubbline so i decided to write for them after rewatching 8 seasons of at in less than 2 weeks. 
> 
> i hope u enjoy!!!

 

**▼**

The universe repeats itself. There are endless beginnings and endless ends. Things are reincarnated over and over again; only to do the same exact things, over and over again. In the grand scheme of things, it was pointless. Existence itself was just one dumb experiment. The future was ever-changing, ever-shifting, evergreen. 

Until it dried up and died, that is; only to inevitably regrow in the same exact pattern.

Marceline just wished it would stay dead. She'd been alive a long time. Long enough to notice how everything is just one big cycle. She could see events that no one remembered in events that had just begun. She could see fragments of old friends in people she had just met.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, was new anymore. 

And then she met Bonnibel.

**§**

Marceline kicked a stone with perhaps too much force, the resulting noise echoing about the tunnel walls. 

"What's got you in a mood today?" Bonnibel asked. 

Marceline shrugged, continuing to think in silence. 

"Oh c'mon. Tell me." 

She started to scowl deeper, but then she had an idea. 

Bonnibel squinted, obviously able to tell Marceline was up to Something. "What is it?"

Marceline grinned at her. "Say, remember our argument earlier?"

"You mean when you vandalized Candy Kingdom property? Because yes, I remember that quite clearly."

"I'll tell you what's bothering me if you do a tag," Marceline smirked. There was no way in hell she would comply. 

Bonnibel opened her mouth to speak, closed it, then shrugged to herself. "Okay," she said, grabbing the spray paint out of a shocked Marceline's hand. 

"Wait, what?"

"I mean, it hardly seems like a fair trade, but I want to know."

Marceline scowled, she didn't exactly want to talk about it but a deal was a deal. "Why?"

"Because I care about you, ya dummy."

Marceline just frowned slightly and said nothing in response. Meanwhile, Bonnibel was starting on her tag. 

Marceline was so busy trying to glare holes into the ground that she didn't hear Bonnibel call her name. 

"Marcy!" She called for the third time. 

Marceline jerked her head up. "Huh?" Bonnibel pointed at the wall. 

"Whaddya think?" she stood back, hands on her hips as though she was admiring her work. 

Marceline read it and snorted. "Original." 

Bonnibel grinned at her. "Time for you to hold up your end of the bargain." 

With an exaggerated sigh, Marceline sat down on the ground. Bonnibel plopped down next to her. 

There was a long, drawn out silence. Marceline took comfort in it, took comfort in her friend beside her. 

"I saw Simon today," she said finally. Bonnibel opened her mouth to speak but Marceline cut her off. "Spare me the lecture, please," she meant to snap the words but they came out sad and dejected. She heard a sigh come from beside her, but the other girl remained silent. 

"I just started thinking. About how shitty it is to be immortal. I get to see everyone I care about die. And Simon... Simon probably won't die because of that  _ fucking crown _ and I'm just gonna sit. Sit and remember. Remember how he used to be. For literally all of eternity! I'm gonna be here, in this shitty place, watching life on repeat, until I either die or the world ends." Marceline sank into herself. Voicing it had just made it a thousand times more painful.

"Yeah."

Marceline waited for her to say something else. It didn't happen.

"Is that all you have to say? You badger me about telling you and then say next to nothing?" 

"I mean, I feel the same way. Everyone's so dumb ya know? All these little dumb people doing little dumb things, usually dying because of said dumb things. And more little dumb people come along, and do  _ the same exact things _ . The worst part is is that you start to care about the little shits. And you start to recognize when something stupid they're doing is going to get them killed, or upset, or ruin something. You try to warn them, but they refuse to listen." She sighed, and blinked as though blinking back tears.

She continued on. "Then you start to see people within other people. And you get attached to the same people all over again, and the same things happen. All. Over. Again." Bonnibel frowned. It didn't match the severity of her words. It seemed empty, as though she was used to this already. 

"So, no, I can't really provide comfort. Because I'm in the same boat, and I just wish the boat would sink," Bonnibel finished. 

There was a sad, uneasy silence. Marceline saw tears fall into the dirt but didn't feel them. 

After a few miserable minutes Bonnibel said something. Marceline didn't hear it, her thoughts were screaming in her brain.  

"Marcy? Marcy did you hear me?"

"What?"

"I said-" she hesitated. "Nevermind, it's not important."

"Oh, okay." 

"I should head back." Bonnibel seemed different somehow, sadder. Marceline wanted to say something, but she didn't know what to say. 

Instead she levitated off the ground and offered her hands to Bonnibel, who took them with a smile. She pulled her to her feet with ease. 

"Need a lift?" Marceline asked.

"Sure."

Marceline picked her up with ease and they flew down the tunnel, over the large gap, and up out the exit. Once they were outside she paused, enjoying the calm night air. She then took off with outrageous speed towards the Candy Kingdom, grinning when Bonnibel shrieked. 

She floated into Bonnibel's room through the open window, dropping her on the bed, laughing slightly when she glared up at her.

"Night Bonnie," she said with a wave, floating backwards out the window. 

"Night night Marcy." 

Marceline flew away into the night. It was nice to have a friend.

**§**

Bonnibel was avoiding Marceline. Marceline knew it. They hadn't talked in over five months, which wasn't that long to Marceline, but they'd never went this long without talking. 

After the first two months, Marceline stopped trying. 

Marceline absentmindedly drained the red from some markers. She didn't like not talking to Bonnibel. She didn't like it at all.

Maybe Bonnibel wasn't lying when she said she was busy. The Candy Kingdom was growing, and Bonnibel had a role to play as 'Princess Bubblegum'. 

_ Still _ , Marceline thought.

If Bonnibel couldn't make time for her, then she couldn't make time for Bonnibel.

**§**

It had been a long, long time since Marceline last seen Bonnibel.

"So... What've you been up to?" the princess asked, the uncertainty and awkwardness between them hung heavy in the air. 

It was only the third sentence Bonnibel had said to her, but something inside her snapped. Something buried deep inside Marceline roiled beneath the surface. She couldn't tell what it was but it hurt nonetheless. 

"Not like you care," she snarled, venom practically dripping from her words. 

Bonnibel just sighed, barely noticing the emotional turmoil warring inside Marceline. "Hey now, don't be like that." 

"Oh fuck you." 

Bonnibel's eyes went wide with shock, then shifted to resignation. "Let's not have this talk here," she said, gesturing to the partygoers around them. 

The rational part of Marceline knew not to follow. The repressed, angry part of her wanted to. 

She drained the rest of the red from her punch and thought for a moment. She slammed her cup down on the refreshment table next to them. 

She decided to listen to her anger. Wielding its burning hot hilt; pain wreaked unto her, soon to be wreaked unto others. 

She followed Bonnibel.

They reached Bonnibel's room. She closed the door softly behind them and sat down on the edge of her bed, gesturing for Marceline to do the same. Marceline just stood by the door and glared. 

"What is your problem," Bonnibel breathed, almost too quiet for Marceline to hear. 

"What is my problem!? What the fuck is  _ your _ problem, Bonnie?" She spit the once fond nickname with anger.

"What did I do?" Bonnibel's voice seemed like it was attempting to be angry, but it was far from it. It was sad and broken and confused. 

Marceline winced at the pain of Bonnibel's face. They had been friends once. They had been friends years ago. 

_ Those years are gone, _ Marceline reminded herself. She dug into her anger, dug into her pain, relishing the feeling of finally feeling.

"Nothing," she seethed. "You didn't do _ anything _ . You didn't try to keep in touch. You just disappeared one day, for no apparent reason. I was  _ alone _ and you were all I had. You were the only person who even came close to understanding what I was going through. And you just fucking left! You were new. After all these years there was finally someone who wasn't familiar. You were new and you were bright and you made me happy for the first time in a  _ long _ time. And you did nothing. Absolutely nothing," Marceline felt tears building behind her eyes as her voice echoed about the large room. The weight of her words made the air heavy. 

Something in Bonnibel changed. Her calm, cold expression morphed into something dark. She stood up off the bed, and stepped towards Marceline.

"You think this is my fault? You blame me? I have an entire kingdom to run. I was busy. I had things to do besides play games with you," her voice was scarily even. It was cold and unflinching and  _ angry. _ Marceline had never seen Bonnibel truly angry. She got annoyed and upset but this was something else entirely. 

Bonnibel continued. "You didn't reach out either. How do you think I felt? I was alone in a place full of people. This is just as much your fault as it is mine," her voice cracked and she swallowed thickly. Marceline could see it now. This calm, composed anger was just Bonnibel trying to swallow her feelings. 

Marceline wanted to reach out and take her old friend's hand. She wanted them to be okay. She wanted to say something that would fix them, but she knew nothing would.

"Oh fuck off," she said instead. 

Bonnibel had been staring at the floor, her head snapped up at Marceline's voice. Suddenly tears were streaming down her face. There was a fierce, pained anger in her eyes and Marceline realized they were more similar than she had thought. 

"Get out."

Marceline couldn't hear her. "What?"

"GET OUT!" she screamed. "I SAID GET OUT." Bonnibel dropped to her knees and clutched her pink hair in her fists. A terrible scream ripped from her throat, it held the pain of a hundred years. Marceline was too shocked to move. 

"GET THE FUCK OUT!" Bonnibel screeched at her, sobbing in between breaths.

Marceline's body kicked into action although her mind was still reeling. She jumped over to the open window, resting on the windowsill, a warm breeze blowing at her back. 

"Bonnie," she said softly.

Bonnibel stood up, her back to Marceline. She seemed to be regaining her composure. "Nothing you can say will ever fix this, so just go."

"I'm sorry," Marceline whispered, not sure if Bonnibel could hear her. She dived out the window, letting her feet brush against the grass, and went back to her lonely house.

**§**

The sight of Bonnibel running breathless into her house was not one Marceline had been expecting, to say the least. Electing to ignore Bonnibel's sudden entrance, she took a swing at the Door Lord again, who only opened another door. Sunlight streaked through, stinging Marceline's skin. Bonnibel shot off like a rocket after him, Finn, Jake, and BMO as well. For some reason, Marceline wanted to follow. She threw on some stuff that would keep the sun from killing her and she did exactly that. 

As she trailed behind the group she wondered what exactly she was doing. She and Bonnibel weren't on friendly terms. She never willingly put herself around the princess, and when they were forced to be together they was only a forced politeness. 

So, no, she didn't know why she followed, but she did anyways. 

She didn't know why she sang that song, but she did anyways. Perhaps she sang it because it was honest. Marceline hadn't been honest with herself in a long time. It hurt, because it was true. 

The soft expression on Bonnibel's face almost made it worth it. 

As they walked back they talked. They talked about the past and what had happened, what could've happened, what might happen. They talked about their anger and resentment. They even made jokes. They just talked. For the first time in hundreds of years they had an honest conversation. 

There was a lull, a silence, but it was comfortable, it always was with Bonnibel. 

"Are we okay?" Marceline asked, words spilling from her unwillingly. 

Bonnibel sighed. "No, I don't think we are." No words had ever stung more. "But I think we can be."

No words had ever been brighter.

**§**

After Simon came over, after Marceline found that photograph, after everything, all the bullshit of the entire night, Marceline broke. She couldn't help it. So much had been lost and only years gained. So she broke. She collapsed onto the floor and cried. She had lost her friend. She would lose more. She wouldn't age, wouldn't have the comfort of growing old and dying, she would stay the same and watch everything around her dissolve.

And that, the thought of watching everything she loved die  _ again _ , that was scary. 

Marceline broke.

Even her own life was a cycle, pain would build inside her for a hundred years, and she would break. 

Marceline was fucking sick of cycles. She wanted to throw a wrench into the machine.

She called Bonnibel.

"Marceline?"

Marceline hiccuped into the speaker. She took a shaky breath as she tried to force words out. "Simon came over."

Bonnibel just sighed. It was a sad sigh. It was a reminder that Marceline wasn't allowed to call her like this anymore.

"Fuck. Sorry Bonnie. Just forget I called."

"Why are you calling me?" Bonnibel ignored her. 

"I... I wanted you to come over," Marceline admitted.

"Oh."

"Just forget it. It-it's fine."

"Don't be silly. I'll come over." There was something strange in Bonnibel's voice. Something familiar.

"Really?" Marceline didn't want to hope, didn't want to think this could be the start of something she had lost.

"Yeah."

Marceline said nothing. She listened to the click of the phone and waited. 

A few minutes later there was a knock at her door. She didn't have the energy to get up. 

"Come in," she croaked. 

The door swung open and Bonnibel stepped in. She was in her pajamas and her hair was messy. Marceline almost laughed. She hadn't seen Bonnibel like this in a very long time. 

"You really should lock your door," she said, closing the door behind her, locking out the cool night air. 

Marceline ignored her. She curled deeper into the couch, burying her face into a pillow that was practically soaked through with her tears. 

"Oh Marcy," Bonnie sighed, kneeling down by the couch next to her. Marceline turned her face to look at her and she sighed again. 

"I don't know why I'm here."

"Then leave," Marceline wasn't even angry. 

"I don't want to," Bonnibel seemed sad. "I don't know anymore, Marcy."

"You haven't called me that in a long time," Marceline noted. 

"You hurt me, Marceline. I'm still trying to recover."

Marceline said nothing. 

"I don't have very many friends," she continued. "I don't elect to have very many people in my life." Bonnibel paused. "I just don't like feelings," she laughed, but it was sad. "But someone always comes along and forces their way into my life. And you did exactly that. For the first time, I  _ felt _ things because of someone besides myself. And you did what everyone else does. You left."

"You left too," Marceline choked out.

Bonnibel shook her head, "I didn't leave Marceline, because I never wanted to.  I got busy and you got angry."

Finally, it clicked for Marceline. She cried harder.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

"I know."

"I just continued the cycle of mistakes," she let out a sad, pitiful laugh.

"We can stop it now."

Marceline blinked away tears and looked up at Bonnibel. "Yeah?"

"Let's start over, Marcy."

Marceline grinned. "I missed you."

"I missed you too."

Things didn't automatically go back. They probably never would go back. All they could do now was move forward.

**§**

"Remember when we made out down here?"

"Marcy!" 

"We did!" Marceline laughed. 

"Yeah I remember!" Bonnibel laughed too. 

Marceline never really understood her 'friendship' with Bonnibel. They were friends who used to occasionally kiss. Both of them had refused to call it dating. And then Marceline left before anything could really, truly happen. Marceline frowned a bit at herself, frowned at the loss what could've been. 

She still had feelings for Bonnibel. She knew Bonnibel still had feelings for her. They needed to recover their friendship before anything else could happen. Yet Marceline couldn't help but feel they were sitting stagnant. 

They went on, searching for these so called "varmints". They found the gap that Bonnibel once jumped over, they found multiple sites of vandalism done by Marceline, and finally they found Bonnibel's tag. Marceline felt a bit bad about destroying it, but it almost felt freeing as well. Like they were letting go of another bit of the past. 

Marceline was carrying Bonnibel to her bed in the tiny cabin when she woke up. 

"What time is it?" She asked sleepily. 

"Like two-thirty."

"You asshat, you said you'd wake me up in fifteen minutes."

"I lied."

Bonnibel scowled and Marceline laughed, laying her down in the bed and pulling the covers up over her. She turned to leave.

"I love you Marcy."

"I love you too."

There was a minute of silence.

"Wait you mean like in a girlfr-"

"Mhm."

"Oh okay... that's how I meant it, too," Marceline paused, "Unless you didn't mean it like that, then-"

"Just come snuggle me you dork."

Marceline grinned, joy blooming in her chest. “Happily."

**§**

Marceline needed a nap. She had been a vampire, not a vampire, and then a vampire again in just over 24 hours. She'd also almost died several times. 

She laid down on her bed and thought about being immortal again. It wasn't great, honestly. She missed the fleeting feeling of knowing she would die some day, she missed the comfort of knowing that things would change for her. 

Perhaps it wasn't a bad thing, though. She would still change, just in smaller ways. Besides, Bonnibel would always be there. 

As Marceline fell asleep she thought about change. She thought about how the world shifted. How someone would never walk in the same exact footsteps as before. How a butterfly would never fly in the same path as another. How words that were spoken were utterly unique. The world moved in cycles. Things got repeated over and over. But raindrops would never fall in the same spot, and trees would never grow in the same way. Things changed. Everything was the same. Everything was different. The two were not exclusive.

This brought her peace. Who knew what kinds of people she would meet a hundred years from now. She could write new songs, make new friends, and change the world, daily, in little ways. 

She drifted off, and she was content. 

Marceline woke up to a knock at her door. 

"Coming," she mumbled to no one and wiped drool off her face. 

When she opened the door, the first thing she noticed was it was dark outside. The second thing she noticed was Bonnibel. 

"Hi," Marceline said, smiling.

"Hi."

There was a beat of silence. 

"Can I come in or?" Bonnibel asked. 

Marceline grinned. "How about I come out," she said, stepping outside the door and closing it behind her. "It's nice out."

"It's three in the morning Marcy," Bonnibel replied flatly. 

"Yeah but it's nice."

They sat down on her porch. Bonnibel rested her head against her shoulder. 

"I just came to make sure you were okay."

"Yeah I'm good."

Bonnibel looked doubtful."You hated being immortal."

"I think I'm okay with it now," Marceline said, tilting her head towards the night sky.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm sure. I have you."

Bonnibel smiled but said nothing. 

Their story wouldn't end. It would constantly grow and change, but it wouldn't end. They would share adventures and stories. The world may have been a cyclical, circular, roller-coaster; but Marceline and Bonnibel were along for the ride.

The world wasn't on repeat, it was a collection of different movies.  

Each day, everything was renewed, each day, a grass blade grew or died, each day the night sky changed, each day different words were spoken. 

Each day was a new adventure, waiting to be seen.

**end.**

**Author's Note:**

> please please leave kudos/comments!!!!
> 
> [my tumblr](http://nekcoma.tumblr.com/)
> 
> title inspired by [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vnl6QVG9dUc)


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